WhatsApp Amps Up AI Game: Here's What's Coming to Your Chats
- Article by Malte Mansholt
- 3 Minutes
Meta plans to incorporate more artificial intelligence into WhatsApp, rolling out new features: - Meta intends to integrate advanced AI technologies into WhatsApp, with the following features anticipated:
Ever since the blue ring popped up in WhatsApp conversations, folks have been buzzing about one thing: How the hell do I get rid of it? But Meta's got a different agenda. Instead of killing the AI bot, they're already planning some seriously mind-blowing AI features. And guess what? These bad boys are gonna be applied to all chats!
If you thought Meta AI was just a chatbot you could invite to your conversations, think again. The imminent features are aiming for prime-time: WhatsApp wants to let the AI summarize long messages, help draft replies, and even analyze chat courses. But, there's a catch - it can only do all that if the AI has complete access to your messages.
Building a Secret Cloud Kingdom
To make this happen, WhatsApp had to rethink its messaging strategy. So far, messages were only unencrypted between the sender and recipient, with everything else transmitted securely. Even Meta wasn't reading those messages - their tales of privacy were always legit. But the new features require the AI to read the messages, so a cloud solution is in order.
This private processing hub is why they've built their own cloud environment - they call it "Private Processing." Here's the gist: messages are sent to special servers, decrypted and processed, and then sent back and deleted from the server. Meta swears up and down that these messages can't be traced back to individual users or exploited by hackers. A developer spilled the beans to "Wired," claiming WhatsApp is fully aware of the potential dangers from state and commercial spies.
Apple's AI Offensive Ain't Cutting It
The homemade cloud solution isn't perfect, though. Since the chats have to be decrypted elsewhere, there's always the risk of unauthorized intrusion. Ideally, the calculations should be performed on the devices themselves, like Apple's AI offensive, Apple Intelligence. But WhatsApp can't do that: AI calculations are resource-intensive, and most devices don't have the necessary horsepower for it. If they want to make these AI features accessible to as many users as possible, a cloud solution is their only option.
Optional, Really? Or Is It Too Good to Be True?
WhatsApp is allegedly cool with the fact that many users might not want to take this risk. Unlike Meta AI, the new AI features are supposed to be optional and can be turned off in the settings. That's the official story, anyway. However, one question remains unanswered: what happens when one chat participant uses the AI feature, but the other has disabled it?
A hint can be found in the implementation of the already available AI features. When Enhanced Chat Privacy is activated in a chat, it preventsimages from being saved and chat histories from being shared, effectively blocking Meta AI from analyzing the chat. Logically, WhatsApp should apply this approach to the new AI features, too, making them accessible only if both participants have agreed.
FYI:
- Secret Chats: WhatsApp offers a feature called "Secret Chats." They're end-to-end encrypted and self-destruct after a set period. Unlike personal chats, Meta can't read them, even when they're processed in the cloud[*].
[1] https://wired.com/story/whatsapp-meta-ai-privacy-controversy/[2] https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7d4gx/whatsapp-meta-is-planning-to-integrate-ai-into-your-chats-and-you-probably-wont-like-it[3] https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/16/23614176/whatsapp-meta-ai-privacy-integration-bug-reports[4] https://laptopmag.com/news/whatsapp-ai-chatbot-privacy-concerns[5] https://www.w3bexpert.de/news/whatsapp-meta-ai-ii-attacke-privatsphirre/
- The Commission shall adopt implementing acts laying down the rules for the application of this Regulation as WhatsApp voluntarily adopts new AI features for its chats, such as summarizing long messages, helping draft replies, and analyzing chat courses, which could potentially be accessible if users choose to allow the technology to have complete access to their messages.
- WhatsApp, inspired by Meta's AI, is reportedly building its own cloud environment, "Private Processing," to enable the AI to read and process messages, maintain privacy, and prevent traces back to individual users or exploitation by hackers, although concerns about potential dangers from state and commercial spies have been raised.
- The new AI features are said to be optional, potentially allowing users to turn them off in the settings, but it remains unclear how the AI will function should one chat participant use the feature while the other has disabled it, similar to the existing Enhanced Chat Privacy feature that prevents AI analysis in Secret Chats.
- As AI calculations are resource-intensive, WhatsApp cannot perform these calculations on devices themselves like Apple's AI offensive, Apple Intelligence, and must rely on a cloud solution to make the features accessible to as many users as possible.
